Abbott’s First Corrupt Special Session Is Going Down in Flames
Senate Democrats fracture as Zaffirini and Hinojosa fail to meet the moment.
Greg Abbott is ending his little power trip early, not because he suddenly discovered compassion for flood victims, but because Texas House Democrats refused to play along with his first corrupt special session. The quorum break worked. Despite Abbott’s threats, surveillance of lawmakers, bounty-hunter tiplines, and even bomb threats, Democrats held the line, killing the GOP’s priority bills before they could even hit the floor. Now Abbott’s walking away empty-handed, except for the shame of having withheld flood relief from Texans while he chased a Washington-ordered power grab.
During the quorum call today, Speaker Burrows confirmed there was still no quorum, but told members to stay within six hours of the Capitol in case they achieve a quorum and to be physically back in their seats Friday for one last attempt to convene.
If there’s still no quorum Friday, Burrows said:
The House and Senate will adjourn sine die (ending the current special session).
Abbott will immediately call a second special session starting Friday.
They’ll “re-establish the call of the House,” meaning Democrats will still be subject to civil arrest to compel attendance.
He closed with an explicit warning that DPS will keep knocking on doors, sitting outside lawmakers’ homes, and “tracking every lead” until they get enough members in the chamber. He said Abbott promised to call them back “again and again and again” until Republicans get their way.
The fucking maps passed the Senate today, thanks to Judith Zaffirini (D) and Chuy Hinojosa (D).
This is going to piss off every Democrat from Amarillo to Brownsville. Texas Democrats could have still blocked these maps from this entire session if they wanted to. You know, just in case DPS arrests someone and brings them in, and quorum is achieved on Friday. If that happens, Zaffirini and Hinojosa would have screwed us big time.
The Senate was in session today, hearing bills, like they would matter if there isn’t a quorum. Since the only bill passed through the House was the maps bill, that’s the only thing that could be passed through this session, anyway.
Regardless, it was apparent something was up early on when several Democrats were huddled in one corner (circled in red) and Zaffirini and Hinojosa were huddled away from them (circled in purple).
Then, when SB4 (the maps bill) came up, almost every Democratic Senator got up and walked out of the Senate chamber. Every Democratic Senator, but two. Want to guess which two?
This is a quick video (one minute), but it shows several scenes:
Nine Democrats walk out of the chamber.
Senator Zaffirini says she has a “strongly worded” 13-page statement against this bill to add to the journal.
The final vote was 19 yeas, 2 nays, 9 absents.
Texas Democrats deserve better than these two lumps who don’t seem to have any fight in them. To be clear. All Zaffirini and Hinojosa had to do was walk out with the rest of their delegation, but they stayed and allowed the fascists to have their maps, anyway.
In the meantime, PBS’ official digital channel is teaching people how to make recipes from the Anarchist’s Cookbook. And the book recommendation I’ve been hearing most frequently lately is the CIA’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual.
“If I lived in Nazi Germany, I would have resisted. If the fascists were here, I would fight. Well, they’re here.”
Let’s just hope that DPS doesn’t arrest any House Democrats before Friday.
What happens after that?
House Democrats said early on that their goal with this quorum break was to kill this session. They’re about 72 hours away from completing that. Then what? They said they would play it by ear, figure out the next move, and check the cash reserves. My House Rep has called an emergency virtual town hall this week, and Mihaela Plesa has as well. I would imagine that’s what they’re all going to do to try and figure out the next move.
We need to be realistic. I know some of us want them to stay gone for as long as they can, but to expect 57 people to stay away from their homes, families, and jobs, while receiving death threats and bomb threats, and $500 a day fines, is not realistic.
If the blue states have agreed to gerrymander their maps in retaliation in return, then Texas Democrats have achieved their mission. The question now is, do they return and try to make it less worse, try to get some amendments on the maps, still knowing Republicans will have their way in the long run? Or do they stay away anyway, until Abbott and Trump cave… knowing that they probably never will?
They may not make it back by Friday, but by Monday, we should know for sure.
Ken Paxton is threatening to jail Beto for saying, “Fuck the rules.”
Seriously. Not because Beto broke the rules, but because he allegedly said, “fuck the rules. You can’t make this shit up.
OF COURSE KEN PAXTON IS LYING!!
Here was Beto’s response:
And here is what Beto ACTUALLY said:
Republicans have nothing but their lies and their manipulations of their low-information voters, but that’s why they do things like this. To get their base riled up. To incite violence and hate.
At this point, anything could happen.
Abbott could drag them into another special session on Friday. DPS could haul in a few Democrats and hand Republicans the quorum they’ve been drooling over. Or House Democrats could hold out, run the clock, and force the governor to choke on his bluff. The only thing certain is that Texas politics is about to get messier, meaner, and even more dangerous for anyone standing in the way of the GOP’s power grab.
Stay tuned. We’re not done here. Not by a long shot.
August 15: Last day of special session
November 4: Constitutional/TX18/SD09 Election
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When does the primary start for those two senators? I am eager to see them removed permanently
The House and Senate Democrats need to stay away the rest of the year if necessary. They took this job knowing they would at best be away from home in Austin for 6 months for the regular session. So they have to have some job flexibility already. They should also have anticipated the need to break quorum. So there should be very few excuses for them to give up and come back now. This is the big fight. If this isn't what they are here for then why did they ever run for office.